I'll Stay Right Here
by mrs.captrogers
Summary: He dreams of her on loop, and it hurts him. He can't explain why, but it seems so real. Maybe it is. She needs him in her life and is willing to do anything for him. First Skyeward fic from me
1. Chapter 1

The bright light of the sun burned his face as he came to. He wanted to lean over and pull the blinds shut but he felt a warm weight on his side and chest holding him down. The smell of strawberry shampoo filled his nose as he recognized as Skye's shampoo. He had accidentally used it once after training, and he smelled it every time she was near. He liked the smell. He opened his eyes to see a mess of curly brown hair pushed into a bun next to his face, he looked down to see her wrapped around the side of his body, with her head and arm across his chest. She was in his arms. Curled up to him. Her finger drew small circles on his chest above his heart as she looked out the window.

"You look peaceful in your sleep I didn't want to wake you," she whispered looking up to him. He looked into her deep brown eyes, he saw his world right there laying with him. The bus was too quiet though he knew something had to be up, he couldn't even hear Coulson walking above his bunk. "You said you wanted to ignore the world outside, it's just us up here," she said like she had read his mind. Her hand balled into a fist on his chest and she tensed. Her face went to utter disgust for a moment then settled to a pleasant smile. She resumed drawing circles. He tried to ask her what was wrong but the words wouldn't come, his voice just wouldn't come to. "Shhh baby it's alright, I'm here, that's all that matters right? I love you Grant," she said tearing up. That's all he ever wanted to hear. He just wanted to know that his love for her wasn't wasted, and those words reassured him it wasn't. No one had told him that and meant it. He knew she did. Suddenly she retracted her body and sat up. "Why did you lie? I trusted you! We could have had a life together and you lied! I wanted you Grant! In every way you can think of I would have left everything behind for you, and you lied and ruined everything."

_I was trying to protect you_-

"I know from Garrett right? You disgust me!"

His world went black again, and several minutes later he felt the sun burning his face. It was a clip was being played again; she laid there hair in a messy bun, curled into his side, drawing small circles.

"I love you, you know that right?"

_I think so._

"Good." She hadn't even looked up this time. He held her a little tighter.

_Can we hide up here forever?_

"If you want to." She sat up on her elbows, the sun coming across her face as if she was an angel. She was an angel, his angel. "Is that what you want Grant?"

_Yes. _He had been taught not to want, not to feel, not to love but when he was around her, what he was taught never mattered to him. He wanted her damn it, like nothing before in his life he wanted her to be safe and happy and most of all with him.

She smiled sweetly before resting her head once again. She had one of his hoodies on, it looked nice on her.

_I love you too. _

"I know babe, I know."

_Please don't leave me. _

"I'm not. I will stay right here until you can come back."

_Until I can come back?_

"You're not here Grant, its just me. I miss you, and I'm waiting for you."

_Wait what do you-_

It was black again, only when he woke this time there was no burning sun on his face, there was no smell of strawberries, and no Skye wrapped around his side. He was cold, he had kicked his blanket off in his sleep. Just black cold room and a hard cot. The room was dark, which meant it wasn't time for inmates to wake up yet. But it was time to wake up for him, the old him that was. It was time for him to go wake Skye up and tell her to get to training. But it wasn't his bunk. It wasn't his bed. It was the jail cell Garrett had unknowingly led him into all those years ago. His arms held a pillow in place of Skye.

Ward sat up and placed his back to the wall.

_I belong here._

He put the pillow on his lap and began drawing circles above his heart.

_She hates me._

He continued until the lights came on and the guards came to take him for his daily torture. He didn't care, she would want him to hurt because at the end of the day he had hurt her a million times worse than how they hurt him. Everything he knew of hydra he gave to them, very willingly, but they didn't care they continued to physically torture him. But them beating on him daily wasn't what was breaking him down, his _real_ emotional torture, it was seeing her face every night. Every time he closed his eyes he would see her. He just wanted her back. So he willingly went with the guards thinking of her promise to stay with him.

On the bus a thousand miles away Skye laid curled into a ball, crying her eyes out. Another 'nightmare' of Grant. It got her every night. She would hear his voice in her head, trying to tell her he loved her, and sometimes she would tell him she loved him too. Others she would yell and scream until she woke up thrashing in his bunk. She found it more comforting to sleep in there. Jemma said it was unhealthy for her to do that to herself. She wore his hoodie often. Tripp told her to throw it out. She didn't care. He was going to come back to her, she knew it.


	2. I Want to Run

Skye dragged herself out of his bed and out to the common area where Tripp stood watching his watch.

"Waiting for a date?" she said sarcastically, trying to hide her emotions. He heaved a sigh of relief.

"I was giving you five minutes before I came in there and tried to calm you down," he said with a smile. Her face dropped, she hadn't realized that it woke anyone else when she cried. "Will you tell me what it is that always keeps you up? Because I know you sure as hell ain't telling anyone else." She hesitated. There was no reason why she had to tell Tripp, it wasn't his business what kept her from sleep. She didn't need his pity. Skye's eyes fell to the floor and she pulled on the sleeves of the over-sized hoodie. "I mean it's obviously something Ward related, and I know after the whole going off on Coulson thing to not try and go down that path unless I want yelled at."

"I yelled at AC because he wanted me to tell him everything about Ward, and even when I did he pressed for more," she stated as she she slowly made her way to the kitchenette. She grabbed an apple from the fridge then sat down on a stool one away from Tripp. "So as long as you aren't an ass about it, its fine," she said before biting into her apple. He didn't ask much, she was thankful for that, but when he was done she waited until he was gone to his morning workout she went back to Ward's bunk and cried her eyes out once again. Every memory of him hurt her because she tried to think of him as the murderous trader that he was, but every time she ended up thinking of how he had confessed his love and she had rejected it.

She sulked around the Bus for a few more days before the dreams began killing her. Seeing his face, feeling his body so close to her, it tore her apart every time the few minutes of beautiful bliss came to an end. And it was just a few minutes with him that always totaled a few hours of sleep. She gave up on yelling at him in the dreams, she would just lay there telling him how much she loved him. It still hurt when she would wake up without him. She wanted out. Of all of it, she couldn't handle it without him, she began to think of ways she could get out of SHIELD with him.

One day Skye sat alone with the unopened Battleship box in front of her in their old spot. She imagined him sitting across from her nagging her to just open it already.

"_Stop playing games already Skye, just open it so we can play_," he would say to her. She could imagine it all, even the small curve on his lips begging for a kiss. He would sit back in the chair gripping the white leather ever so slightly as he looked out the window and into the sky. The guy who was afraid of flying, but 'could handle it' her ass. "_I've almost had enough now Rookie, so open the box or else I'm not playing_." His voice was almost too real.

"Skye?" Coulson's voice beckoned her from her thoughts. He was walking quickly towards her she could see pure terror in him although he wore a blank face, then gripped and spun what would have been Ward's seat. His face was covered with confusion as he looked down upon the empty seat.

"What's wrong Coulson?" she asked. He looked down at her with a smile but she could tell his thoughts were filled with a million 'what the hell's at the moment.

"Nothing I just could have swore…" he looked back down at the seat, "Sounded like someone was over here…" he looked back towards the stairs then back to the chair, "and when I came around the corner it looked like…" He looked at her while tapping his finger on the back of the chair. _He thought he heard and saw Grant_, her mind put together. He stood there for a few more moments trying to make sense of it but he couldn't. _There is no way he saw what I was thinking about right? _She mentally laughed at the idea.

"Trick of the mind?" she asked with a smile.

"Yeah I guess," he looked down at the box. "Need an opponent?"

"Nah, I was just going to put it up," she lied. She didn't want to play with him she wanted to play with Ward. It was their thing, playing it with Coulson would somehow ruin it for her. He turned to leave. "Where is he at?" she blurted. _Where is my Ward? _her body screamed.

"Skye,you know I can't-"

"Don't lie to me Coulson," the girl snapped. He turned back to her and his face had washed over a look she had only seen on those centipede mind-controlled soldiers.

"He's in the Playground, fifteen floors down, cell 1280. I personally locked the door." _Well that was easy. _He looked at her questioning if he should go on, she didn't know how she knew, he hadn't physically asked, she just knew some part of him was asking and she nodded in reply. "I wanted to keep him close, in case I ever needed him. He's a good asset. I know you need him more though, and I can fully understand if you would rather run away with him than stay with the team." Her mouth hung open.

_I need more,_ she thought, _I need to know would you let us go if we tried?_

After a moments hesitation he nodded. Skye hadn't said it, and yet he had replied.

_Are you reading my mind?_

"No you're in mine," he said flatly then turned and left her. She stared at his back internally freaking out as he left her with the words hanging in the air. Skye got up from her seat and rushed to his bunk, bringing the game with her. The plan unfolded in her head.

Two hours later Skye stood at the cargo bay with Fitzsimmons as the Bus landed.

"Isn't that Ward's old duffle bag?" the scotsman asked. His accent had been thicker since he returned from the hospital, doctors told them it had been another side effect of the brain damage, but sometimes it ran so thick no one could tell what he was trying to say.

"Oh, yea it is. I'm just trying to bring some of my stuff into my room here so that I'm not running across the whole base in just a towel because I forgot clothes again," she lied. She looked at the pair, Fitz was using Simmons as a human crutch because he refused to use a cane and Jemma stood along patiently waiting for his next movement. She liked how they could come together for each other.

_This might be the last time I see them._

"Your joking right?" Jemma asked. Skye looked down at the floor, she had done it again, and she didn't even know what _it _was.

"Just know that I love you guys," Skye said keeping her eyes to the floor, "and I never mean to hurt you."

"You haven't hurt us Skye and you aren't goin' to, what Ward had said is a load of bull shit, and don't let it get to ya'. Ya' aren't a monster, just our Skye. We both know ya' tryin' ta'- I mean- ya' are- ya'... ya'," his breathing grew deeper as he tried and failed to get his words across. His face twisted as he looked to Simmons who quickly took up his train of thought.

"We both know you are trying your best to stay calm and collected, like anyone would but Skye what has happened to you _hasn'thappened to everyone_. So it's kind of… average if you boil over sometimes. Just don't let it all be bottled up, because then you become a Mount St Helens when you let it out!" Simmons joked uneasily. She could tell something was wrong with Skye, but she knew prying wouldn't help, she had heard what happened when Coulson had tried. Skye finally made eye contact.

"We'll always be here when ya' need us, you know that, right?" Fitz said. Skye threw her arms around the both of them, before a few stray tears fell down her face.

_Don't let them 't let them know. Don't let them know. _She chanted this in her head before turning to leave as the door opened. "See you later guys!" she lied again. She didn't even turn her head, she couldn't look at them, it wasn't worth seeing the confusion on their faces.

She hid in her room until midnight, refusing dinner and movie night in the process. She snuck out with Ward's hoodie and duffle bag in tow, making sure her footsteps were soft and unheard. She wrote a small note and placed it on the counter of the kitchen.

_Guys I'm sorry but I had to. I love him. _

_Please don't hate me. _

_We won't hurt anyone ever again I promise. I'm_

_just trying to protect you guys. Please don't come _

_looking for us, we will be fine._

_I love you all. Goodbye._

_-Skye_

Coulson woke up the next morning to May interrogating Ward's night shift guards.

"They said you went down there with Skye early this morning, you asked for them to unlock the door and after they did they passed out," she told him flatly. "Simmons checked them no signs of attack. Fitz went over the security cams, when they were supposedly talking to you they were talking to thin air. Then Skye raised her hand and they were out. One of the vehicles are gone, but the tracker for it is here." Coulson sighed. "They are gone Phil. Where do you think we should start searching?"

"Nowhere."

"What?" He nodded. "We are just going to let an ex-Hydra agent and a hacker with God only knows what kind of abilities out into the world? Are you out of your mind? They are dangerous Phillip."

"I told her I would let them go." He waved the small note around. "And she promised to not hurt anyone. That's all I need. Tell everyone to drop it-" May opened her mouth to protest. "-that's an order."


	3. Love Is a Good Thing On a Bad Day

"So where to?" Skye said as she looked up at the schedule above their heads.

"Doesn't matter as long as I'm with you," he replied. Tiredness had set in on both of them, they had spent the last few hours walking after they sold the SHIELD SUV for tickets for a ride out of the state. Via a bus. The irony. But Ward had refused letting her near a train, and she knew the FBI still had his picture on their most wanted list, courtesy her, so no planes. So they found a bus station.

"Grant you are the super spy double agent here, you will pick a better place to hide out," she whispered. He felt a pang of guilt. _Double agent._ Ward didn't want her to think of him as that.

"But something I would pick is what they'll be looking for..._honey_," Ward began to cover as an elderly man stood next to their bench, "so lets go somewhere you want to go. Somewhere _your dad _would never guess we would _vacation _at." She laced their fingers together and put her face into the crook of his neck. Skye didn't want the pressure of this, hiding from SHIELD again? That was terrifying, especially since she had been able to see what kind of teck they had on their side for the past several months. At least before she had had her trusty laptop to help her hide her tracks before. Now? She carried a duffle bag with battleship box in one hand, and a fugitive's larger hand in the other. She was screwed. Skye hid in his side for several minutes before she came up. The old man was gone again, leaving them free to talk

"Let's go to New York, not like Manhattan or Brooklyn or even Harlem, like suburbs New York. Like _married with children_ suburban New York. Would that work?" she questioned. He looked down at her big doe eyes, he could see her internally begging him.

"Would you want to go there with me?" She could feel the fear in him, no one had loved him that much before. No one had ever even wanted him near for too long before hating him. No one had ever loved him back. Giving his love was his weakness. Now with John gone and no longer willing to beat him to a pulp for it he was willing to let his weakness consume him, to love Skye with no remorse. He was afraid that she was lying, leading him on once again, for Coulson to see how far he was willing to go, but he was willing to not care. As long as he was near her he didn't give a damn.

She could hear his thoughts of all they ways May and Coulson would have him killed for doing this.

"_I wouldn't go with anyone else Grant_, I don't care what anyone else has to say or even thinks 'bout us because what we do beyond this point in none of their god damn business," she said thickly. "I'm sorry for the things I've said in the past, and I forgive you for lying to me, you need to know Coulson told me he would let me go, let _you_ go, if that was what made me happy, and it is Grant. I want to leave. With you, no one else. You and me together. Us against the world, 'til the end of the line kind of thing. Whole nine yards- if you want to that is," she said nervously. A smile melted over his face and he leaned in closer to her. She met him halfway and they had an epic battle of dominance with their tongues that even made a passerby tell them to get a room. They continued, each trying so hard to be as close to each other as possible in public. They came up gasping several minutes later with smiles plastered to their faces and small giggles coming from both of them. "You get me a ring and keep _that_ up, I'll do whatever you want to do. But if we have more than three kids expect me to let myself go a little," she gave a cackle, "because let's be honest a mixture of us _sounds _stressful. They'd probably be mischievous as hell. Plus they'd be great liars. Like both of us. And super athletic like their father."

"Or maybe stubborn like their mother," he cut in. "But no matter what they'd be beautiful because they would be one half you. I love you, you know that. I don't care what you look like." Tears welled up in her eyes hearing him say such sweet things to her. "But there will not be more than three. Three is enough madness," he semi-joked.

"Agreed... and... I love you too," she whispered. They looked into each other's eyes and smiled like fools. Neither of them could remember a time they were so happy. "So New York it is?"

"Pick a city," he said.

"Find me a computer and give me an hour," she smiled even wider.

They sat there for a moment taking in the huge decisions they just agreed on. Then they went to the nearest Starbucks and paid some business man $150 to let Skye use his computer.

They left an hour later to begin their new life.


	4. Hiding in the Light

"Its them… it has to be," Tripp said quietly as he passed the file over to May. They sat across from each other in May's large assistant director's office. She had asked him a few days prior to check for any possible leads on Skye and Ward. It had been four years too long, and he found a lead. He almost couldn't believe it. "The medical records… they're all falsified. _All _files on them are falsified. And the written descriptions of the couple… it has to be them..."

"Who else have you told?" she asked after a moment.

"No one," he lied hoping Fitz could keep his damn mouth shut for once in his life.

"Good. Keep it that way," she said. She read the basic falsified information for a few minutes before passing the file back to Tripp.

"Can I say that this is odd? I mean...four years and not a trace of them since that dead end of a car dealership, and now these fully faked identities are put on the web by some doctor? Maybe there is something wrong, we both know that Skye wouldn't be that ignorant, and God knows Ward would never if he-"

"I've read it Tripp. I know the situation, and I'll handle it. But no one else is to know of this."

"What about the Director?" he hesitated. There was something she was not saying. Some sort of unspoken tension in her words that dripped hatred in every syllable. He didn't trust her with this. "It's something he would need to know about right?"

"No. We are keeping this between us Triplett," she deadpanned as she gestured to the door. "Dismissed."

"But-"

"Dis. Missed. Understand?"

"Yes ma'am." Tripp turned the corner and rushed to vent to Fitz.

=== TWO WEEKS LATER ===

"Fitz are you sure?"

"May has agents surveying them everyday. There are pictures. It's them Jems." Fitz felt bad, he had promised Tripp that he wouldn't tell anyone but… it was Simmons, he couldn't _not _tell her. She was an extension of himself therefore when Tripp entrusted the very sensitive information with him he also entrusted it in Simmons. At least in Fitz's logic he had.

"Tell me the story again."

" They said they've been married since '08. Live in some rich neighborhood in New York. She works for Stark Industries. He works for some armed truck delivery service for some high and mighty bank in Manhattan. Daniel and Jessica Barnes…"

"...And their first born is due in five months. That's how Tripp found them."

"Yep."

"And May has had agents watching them?"

"Yep."

"And Coulson doesn't know?"

"Yep."

"And this whole situation is screwed every way?"

"Yep."


End file.
